Junemar Fajardo is PBA Philippine Cup's Best Player

Junemar Fajardo proved to everyone that starting this season he can dominate the shaded lane in the PBA as he was declared Best Player of the Conference. This award is expected to be the start of the many more awards for Fajardo in the PBA.

The former standout from the University of Cebu bested Petron/San Miguel teammate Arwind Santos and Barangay Ginebra big man Japeth Aguilar for the top award in the Philippine Cup, where he topped the statistical race since the eliminations.

The 6-foot-10 Cebuano slotman led the Petron Blaze Boosters to the semifinals of the tournament, averaging 16.4 points, a league-leading 14.9 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks.

Fajardo also won the first major award of his professional career, atoning for his loss in the Rookie of the Year race last season to Alaska sensation Calvin Abueva.

In the process, the 24-year-old also became the first Best Player awardee to come from a team not in the Finals since Ginebra's Mark Caguioa in 2012.

Fajardo, last season's top rookie pick, garnered a total of 1298 points broken down to 436 statistical points, 565 from media votes, 117 from the players votes and 150 from the PBA votes, beating out teammate Santos who had 727 points.

Santos, the reigning league MVP, got 402 statistical points, 268 from the media, 32 from the players and 25 from the PBA.

Aguilar and Ginebra frontline partner Greg Slaughter finished tied for third with 531 total points while GlobalPort's Jay Washington was fifth with 398 points.

The franchise hopes to bounce back strong in the Commissioner’s Cup, where the team will return as the San Miguel Beermen. The squad will feature new coach Biboy Ravanes running the team alongside coaching consultant Todd Purves, as well as newly-acquired stars Sol Mercado and Rico Maierhofer.

Junemar Fajardo is PBA Philippine Cup's Best Player
Reviewed by Jay-R Bayon-on
on
2/21/2014
Rating: 5